Thursday, February 26, 2009

risk/reward

The interesting thing about risking just about anything is that you typically fail.

Maybe that sounds odd, wrong, or at the least gainsaying? I'd just throw out there that if you wouldn't typically fail with whatever, it probably wasn't risky. In fact, it was most likely the most prudent way to go.

Here's another thing that could wrankle your feathers. Even if you succeed, you're going to tick people off with your risks.

Call it jealousy or defensiveness...but you're risking something that others aren't willing to risk. They'd rather slow play it and see if they can creep into the position that you now sit in. When you threw caution to the wind and did something that statistically wasn't wise...you jumped ahead of them in line. Jerk.

No risk no reward? That's not true either. If you play the odds you're probably going to slowly move ahead. Sure, if you play the odds in a silly way...or end up facing a lot of unforeseen circumstances come your way...or give up...you're not going to move ahead. That's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about the statistical advantage. Play it safe, keep plodding ahead.

I know this is the age of talking about revolutions and risk, but be warned - risks are harder, scarier and more often than not, on the losing end.

So the question is - Is this something I care enough about to risk everything?